Gershon Agron
| Gershon Agron | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mayor of Jerusalem | |
|
In office 1955–1959 | |
| Preceded by | Yitzhak Kariv |
| Succeeded by | Mordechai Ish-Shalom |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
27 December 1894 Chernihiv, Ukraine |
| Died |
1 November 1959 (aged 64) Jerusalem, Israel |
| Political party | Mapai |
| Spouse(s) | Atal Lifshitz |
| Religion | Jewish |
Gershon Agron (1894–1959) was an Israeli newspaper editor and mayor of Jerusalem 1955–1959.
Biography
Gershon Agron (originally Agronsky) was born in the Ukraine and immigrated with his family to the United States at age five. He grew up in Philadelphia.[1] During World War I, he fought with the Jewish Legion in Palestine. From 1920 to 1921, he worked for the Press Office of the Zionist Commission. Until his immigration to Palestine in 1924, he worked as the editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and correspondent for several international press agencies, including The Times of London and the Manchester Guardian. In 1932, Agron founded The Palestine Post, an English-language newspaper that was renamed The Jerusalem Post in 1950.[2] Among the paper's earliest reporters was Agron's nephew, Martin Agronsky, later a famous American television journalist.
On various occasions, Agron served as envoy of the World Zionist Organization. He was a member of the Jewish Agency delegation to the UN conference in San Francisco. In 1949–1951, Agron headed Israel's Government Information Service. In 1955, he was elected mayor of Jerusalem. He remained in office until his death in 1959. During his term, he played a key role in the development of the western sectors of the city.[2]
Commemoration
Agron Street in downtown Jerusalem[3] and Beit Agron (headquarters of the Israeli Press Association) are named after him.[4]
References
- ↑ Matthew Silver (28 December 2006). "A founding father". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 17 January 2015. Excerpted from Matthew Silver (2006). First Contact: Origins of the American-Israeli Connection. The Graduate Group.
- 1 2 "Gershon Agron". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
- ↑ Stuart Schoffman (1 October 2009). "Streets of the Westerners". JUF News. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
- ↑ Israel Goldstein (1984). My World as a Jew: The Memoirs of Israel Goldstein, Volume 2. Associated University Presses. p. 109. ISBN 9780845347805. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
External links
- The personal papers of Gershon Agron are kept at the Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem